[quote]Style and substance, inextricably linked together in the form of fiction, occasionally make strange bedfellows. For instance, approaching the truly horrific with the plain, mechanical prose popularized in pseudo-Hollywood thrillers does not truly frighten or unsettle or make strange. Rather, what happens is the lens itself normalizes the experience. By approaching the unknown through such familiar formula, the reader is not thrown akimbo, but allowed to maintain a sense of comfort even in the mouth of hell. Basso, no stranger to horror aficionados but new to my bookshelf, eludes me. I’ve read his collection The Beak Doctor: Short Fiction 1972-1976(Leaping Dog Press, 2005) three times this year. It isn’t very long, and it is the kind of book that merits careful study.[/quote]

In other news, Apex has secured a National and International Distribution Contract with a big league distributor. Their seeking peerbacking to offset the sort of loans and investments required to ramp up their operation to that level in a month.

Do consider dropping a few dollars their way, if you’re interested in seeing MAZE in nearly every bookstore in the country. This deal pending has held up the release date for MAZE. Personally, I’d rather launch the book with national distribution from a major distributor than early without.

I know some of you don’t like waiting so long for MAZE when you heard it would be out in April, and we’re working on something to address that concern. Just hold out a little longer, and I’ll let you know what it is, exactly.

Also, and just an addendum, while I was putting the review together for Beak Doctor, I found a totally awesome costume!